Be vigilant against scams this Christmas

During the Christmas season, scam calls and texts often rise. Consumers should stay vigilant as scammers frequently impersonate delivery services, government agencies and other businesses at this time of year.

Warning signs include messages pretending to be from:

• your parcel delivery provider
• your bank or utility provider
• someone who you know personally.

Tips to help you:

1. Be cautious of calls or texts urging you to act in haste

1. Be wary of texts from unknown numbers, even if they appear to be Irish
2. Avoid clicking on links
3. Do not send money through unknown links or to unknown contacts
4. Never share personal information
5. Don't reply to unknown contacts.

We have more information on scam calls and texts along with advice on handling suspicious messages.

What we are doing:

To help protect customers from scam calls and text messages, we are working with the telecoms industry to implement safeguards against fraudulent communications.

ComReg mandated a number of interventions on the industry it regulates in April 2024 (see ComReg document 24/24). Since October 2024 in excess of 100 million scam calls have been blocked by these interventions. To help combat text scams and restore trust in SMS communications, ComReg launched an SMS Sender ID Registry in Ireland. Since 3 July 2025, text messages sent from unregistered SMS Sender IDs have been modified to 'Likely Scam' to inform and protect the public, in accordance with ComReg's Decision D14/24.

These anti-scam measures, developed through collaboration with the telecommunications industry, aim to reduce scam calls and texts while restoring trust in voice and SMS (text) services. The overall benefit of these measures, when implemented by industry, is expected to amount to around €1.2 billion by 2030 alongside the societal advantages of decreased scam calls and texts.

For further information, visit our nuisance communications and sender id website pages.

Tips we give businesses, to help them protect you from scams:

1. Do not request personal details from customers by text or email
2. Publish business contact details on the website and specify contact methods with customers (phone, email or text)
3. Detail how customers can verify communications are genuine
4. Add any outbound-only numbers to the Do Not Originate (DNO) list to protect against scammers using the numbers. Details on the DNO service at comreg.ie/dno.

A tool to help you:

Visit FraudSMART's online scam checker tool at ScamChecker.ie where you can enter a website link to check for risks.

What you can do:

If you suspect fraud, contact your bank and report it to your local Garda Station immediately.